Promise and Hate
by Ruelux Prince
Summary: Peter Pan always fulfills all the promises he makes. When he makes a promise to Henry, he'll do everything he can to keep it. No matter the cost. What if the cost was something nobody expected? What if the cost was Pan's life? Well, if there's one thing Henry learned in Neverland, it was that Peter Pan never fails. When you think about it, dying does counts as failing, doesn't it?
1. Chapter 1: Promise

**Prologue:** The promise is made.

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone, and especially Pan. Dark stuff in the next chapter, along with the full warning.

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The night was dark and rather frigid, two sets of footprints left in the moist jungle floor. One deeper, made by inexperienced, childish feet. Another by a boy, frozen forever in the age of seventeen. The frozen boy's name was Peter Pan.

Usually Pan's prints were light, quiet, like those jungle cats that the Lost Boys run from, or occasionally fall prey to. It also didn't help that today was going to be the day he had waited five hundred years for... the reason he was chosen. He spared a glance at the little boy walking behind him. The boy's name was Henry, and it suddenly pained Pan to steal such a young boy's life just to fuel his own.

He had no other choice, though. It was the reason he had been plucked out of his home in England and dumped in Neverland. He had to find the heart of the Truest Believer, to save his life, and all the lives on the island he had grown to love.

It was unlike Pan to attach himself to anyone; it wasn't the way that he had been brought up. He had once tried to get close to a girl named Wendy several decades ago, and look where that had gotten them. Peter Pan was still Peter Pan, and Wendy now spent the majority of her rather permanent stay in Neverland inside of a bamboo cage, suspended by thick ropes that held her several feet off of the ground.

"There's a price, isn't there?" Henry suddenly spoke up, shattering the uneasy silence and startling the immortal teenager. Pan mentally kicked himself for getting distracted. Focus!

"Yes… Magic always comes with a price; you know that already. Saving magic has an even bigger one, however," he replied. His tone was soft, desperately trying to hide the bitterness that had crept into his voice.

"What is it?"

Pan took a deep breath, and for the first time in God knew how long, he spoke the full truth. "The price? Well, that would be your life. If you're willing to give up your heart, that is." The kicking didn't stop.

"Would I die?" Pan was quite surprised at the calm tone of Henry's voice, too. He really hoped his constant masking of emotions hadn't been affecting Henry during his time on the island. Baelfire and that Emma Swan girl would have been devastated if their son grew up to be like him and, of course, his grandfather. Well... If he grew up at all.

"Not immediately. You would be asleep at first. Then, slowly, your life would fade away. You probably wouldn't feel a thing." They kept on walking, one in front, one behind, a foot apart. Pan fought against a grimace that threatened to form on his face, not looking back at the small boy with the determined footsteps.

"It's too bad, then. I would've liked to say goodbye. My family must've gotten to the island by now. Still, a promise is a promise." His words finally cracked as soft crystal tears began to fall, one by one, adding to the moisture on the always damp jungle floor. But despite his reaction, they kept on walking.

Then, Pan stopped abruptly, causing Henry to crash into him and catching his arm before he fell into the dirt. In a surprising turn of events, Pan wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and pulled him into an embrace. Henry stiffened, but slowly relaxed. Pan placed his head on Henry's deep brown locks and held him tight.

"Let it out, Henry," he whispered. "Let it all out." Henry obeyed, letting out all of the fears, the frustrations, and the pent up emotions that he had been bottling up since he first came to Neverland, letting them run down his cheeks in hot, salty tears.

Pan had no idea what the Hell he was doing. Or _why_ he was doing it, for that matter. He thought his heart had hardened beyond repair after the Wendy fiasco. It had been years, _years_, since he had held someone out of sheer compassion, and it had been even longer since he'd been held for the same reason.

The pitiful tears demolished the walls that guarded the immortal's heart, penetrating his soul. He wanted nothing more than to stop those tears and the reason behind it. He could do it, he knew, but he lacked something to fight for. Pan had never realized how selfish he truly was before that moment.

"Do you trust me, Henry?" Pan asked out of nowhere. Henry paused for several moments, and then finally nodded.

Carefully prying the boy away from his chest, Peter Pan bent down, going to the same level as Henry. He remembered seeing this act when he was visiting the other world from time to time. "I solemnly swear that I will not let you die for me, or anyone else as long as Neverland still stands. I will not let any harm befall you as long as I can prevent it." As Pan spoke, Henry merely continued to stare at him with wide eyes.

"I've seen knights pledge their loyalties to their lord on my trips 'outside'. They always give their superior a token to signify their oath." He smiled sadly and reached into his pocket, his fingers gently gripping a small, cold object. He pulled it out, holding it tightly as he spoke again. "Here... take this. This will be a symbol of my promise to you, Henry. And, most importantly, it will represent my will to not break it." The immortal teenager handed the object to the mortal boy, pressing it into his palm.

It was a pendant, made by someone with a lot of free time on their hands. An intricate Greenleaf was carved into a yellow stone, threaded with a piece of thin red chain and a couple of black beads. "It was my mother's," Pan carefully said, as though he had to think deeply before saying each word. And honestly... he was doing exactly that. "Before Neverland. I... don't remember much of anything before, so this is the only thing I have left to remind me that I wasn't always 'Peter Pan'." He thought for a moment before continuing, his next words somehow holding the tone of everything he was feeling. "She made an oath to me, too, giving me that to promise it." He paused, green eyes wistful as he let the information sink in. "Keep it safe, Henry."

Henry seemed to be frozen in shock, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. There was silence as he tried to form words. "Do you really promise?" he choked out, grasping at the fragile thread of hope dangling in front of his eyes.

Pan actually smirked at this and began to push Henry along the path which lead to the small docks and, eventually, Skull Rock. He chuckled. "I may not always be the most well-behaved boy in the universe, but I always keep my promises. Especially ones of that magnitude." For some reason, Henry couldn't help but believe him, even managing to laugh along. Never once did he loosen his grip on the pendent that was clasped tightly in his hand, save for when he finally slipped the delicate crimson chain over his head, letting it dangle freely from his neck for several seconds. Once he knew that it was truly there, though, he couldn't help but place his hand over the yellow pendent itself, pressing it against his chest.

"No matter the cost," Pan barely breathed, his quiet addition all but silent. He knew full well the price he would have to pay for that promise, the punishment for disobedience, and... well, and quite a lot of other ones that he simply refused to think about. After all, he knew fully well what He was capable of. Pan smirked ever so slightly, the determination burning in his emerald eyes.

_No matter the cost._

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**A/N: Is it just me or is the promise thing too formal? If it is, then blame everything on the Lord of the Rings fanfictions I have read lately. Disclaimers: See author's profile.**

**I am still on with the Big-Three ways of writing. Prologue, Actual story and Epilogue. What do you think? Too much? I think this is one of the stories that could come easily.**

**Updates will be soon. I think.**


	2. Chapter 2: Pendant

**Chapter one: **Pendant

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in next chapter, no slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

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Emma Swan is many things, the Savior, a lost girl, a woman, a sheriff, a daughter, a Bails Bonds person, a mother; and now, the mother part of her wants to break down and sob over Henry's unconscious body while the savior part wants to strangle Peter Pan, cut off his limbs one by one, stuff them in a suitcase, stick it with a thousand steak knives and dump it in the see for the mermaids.

That little bastard has actually succeeded in snuffing Henry's heart right out under their noses and without the Lost Boys' corporations, they have no idea where Pan is in Neverland and just when they thought their day couldn't get any worse, Pan let loose the variety of VDATLINTWTEYA on them. Very Dangerous Animals That Live In Neverland That Wants To Eat You Alive. Sure they got away relatively unscathed and are now sailing away back home she has no doubt Belle and Ruby and everyone else will be expecting a happy reunion. They'll be getting a reunion all right, just without the happy part.

"Emma, want some?" She looked up and Saw Tinker Bell standing there, one hand outstretched, her bun even messier than when she last seen her. She accepted the hot tea graciously, anything to take her minds off of the current situation.

"Still no sign of waking up?" Tink asked, sipping her tea before gagging at the vileness of Hook's cooking. His special Never Sapling tea was once of the reasons Tink wants to punch him. Emma shook her head, blond curls bobbing up and down, streaked with dirt and sand from the many days in Neverland.

"Gold says he can do better once we're back in town, at least Henry is stable now." Emma managed to choke out, barely holding back her tears. Tink scooped closer, trying to bring some sort of comfort to the distressed mother.

"Wendy gave me some pixie dust just then," Tink began, reaching into her pocket and pulled out the glass vial, "Will it help?"

"But Tink, your wings…"

"They can wait; Henry is the priority now isn't it?" She answered right back, rarely concerned for another's well-being, especially one she met for only a day and have not spoken a word to.

Emma sighed as she took the vial. If the story books she read as a child was true, the fairies value their wings the most and will stop at nothing to get it back, the most serious of all punishment was deprivation of their wings. To give up a chance to get it back…

A wave, a rock, a tumble and the ship went off-side. Tink could hear Hook open his lovely flask of beautiful curse words above deck, Regina shouting some spell to steady the vessel and the soft groans from Neal as he probably hit something hard again.

Emma set her tea-cup down on one of the wooden barrels and went up to find out what's wrong, did the mermaids attack again? Leaving Tink to tend to the fell-out-of-cot Henry. Her dirty fingers caught something in Henry's grimy maroon shirt and she pulled it out.

It was a pendant, a complicated Greenleaf etched in the semi-smooth yellow stone, threaded through with a long piece of red chain and a few black beads. Tink saw that pendant many times around Pan's neck, bouncing on his chest as he zips through the trees, chasing some dangerous animal. He told her about its origin…and its purpose.

It signifies a promise. A promise he will do anything to fulfill, the same reason it is given to him. _No matter the cost_ he had said, the same words mirroring another long gone. She still remembered that night, a long time ago; there was another party around the big bonfire. She found him alone, up in his tree house, away from everyone else, twirling the stone between the chain, not caring if it hit his face, just watching the Greenleaf spin in the air.

Maybe Henry isn't that far from help after all.

She tucked the necklace back into his shirt and sat back down on the wooden bench, resuming the sips of Hook's disgusting tea, a small smile stayed on her lips.

A nagging feeling refused the go away in the back of her mind. What is exactly the oath Pan made that he would give the most important artifact to promise it? What is in store for Henry? But more importantly, what is the price Pan is going to pay?

_No matter the cost_ he had said, _no matter the cost._

○◎□※○◎□※○◎□※

Regina wondered for the tenth time that day if Greg really was right. Do villains really get happy endings? Right now, the answer is a bog fat NO.

First her son got kidnapped, and then on the road to rescue him, they got attacked by a horde of blood thirsty mermaids, followed closely by a no better freak storm. After that the Charming Co. spend a week running around through a jungle, which houses a variety of dangerous animals and teenage boys, following a magic map. The Savior Emma then just has to go to some lover's fool errand. Sure Gold and she actually got something done, but now they have a ship full of incorporate boys; an evil, immortal teenage demon and a dying Henry to deal with.

Regina Mills' vacation is going alone fabulously.

It was almost dusk; the sun is setting in the horizon. She has finally stopped pacing around the living room of her mansion to look at the time. Gold is upstairs, trying to wake Henry with whatever he's got in his shop.

Everyone in the proximity of the living room is anxious. Hook is through with the second bottle of her best whisky. Regina is too occupied to care and figured she could blast a fireball at him later on. Neal couldn't stop biting his finger nails. The Charming couple is huddled together, looking out to the gardens, eyes distant and unseeing. Belle is desperately trying to read a book, but just ended up ripping page after page out of a blank notepad after she countered a teenage boy that sounded too much like Pan.

Emma, like her, is pacing. The pair of two moved around and around the length of the table, like a ballroom dance, perfectly in sync. The weirdest was Tink, she just couldn't stop fidgeting, and glancing towards the door every few second as if waiting for a miracle to just walk though and ring the doorbell.

There was a collective wave of attention when Gold finally stepped down from the stairs, his Dark One outfit still there, didn't bother to shed them when he just barged into his own shop. The same question burns in everyone's throats. _Is Henry all right? _Gold took a deep breath…and shook his head.

It's like a ten ton anvil, dropping from a height of ten thousand feet and crashed right on top of their heads. Gold was quick to speak up, desperately attempting to lift the weight, just a little.

"I've everything I could; even the bundle of fairy dust the blue fairy gave isn't enough. Henry is just not waking up." Gold sank into the first chair he felt and continued, "The pixie dust was a great help, I can only prolong the inevitable. Without some powerful magic, there is no hope." He tried to smile at the disgraced fairy, a thank you. She only nodded, eyes casting the door one last glance before burying her head in her hands.

"What if we got his heart and put it back into is body? Would that work?" Neal piped up, disbelieving.

His father shook his head, "It has been out of his system for too long, I'm afraid his body won't react kindly to it at all. We'll just be doing more damage than help."

Emma slammed her fist on to the table and yelled, "Aren't to suppose to be the all-powerful Dark One? Why can't you do it? Do you want him to die?"

Gold just smile bitterly, "The only thing that could save him would have to be Pan's magic, Miss Swan. The one that started the damn thing are the only one that could end it."

DINNNNNNNGGGGGG-DOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG

The shrill ringing of the doorbell startled everyone in the huge living room to no ends. With a heavy sigh, Regina waved her hand, suddenly too tired to get the door and explain what happened to some concerned or more likely curious towns people. Nobody bothered to look up and pay attention, not even Tink, all hoping the nosy person would get the hint and get lost.

"Why so glum, chums?" Regina's head snapped up at that arrogant voice, eyes reaching to her hair lines. In the middle of her hall stood the one and only Peter Pan, hands in pockets, smartly dressed in blue jeans, leather sneakers and a large cream-colored coat. The white scarf was gently yanked off shortly after his unexpected entrance and is now dangling over where his left hand met the his jean pocket. A typical teenager.

Tinker Bell, surprisingly was the first to stand up, arms slightly extended, as if she would run to Pan and hug him because thank goodness you're here. There was worry and fear in her eyes and wait was that…relief?

Then Pan smiled, not a cheeky grin or an arrogant smirk the family has grown accustomed to in the past week and a half. Just a plain old smile, eyes sad and wistful. Regina often saw that similar look on a person who is about to go on the execution stand and are prepared for hell to come.

"Where's Henry? I still owe him a promise."

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**A/N: I'm going to make this my first multi-chapter story that will eventually go over 3 actually chapters. Major exams coming up and I couldn't be bothered typing a 12000 something document. No time.**

**Going to try and keep character in character for as long as possible. Dark things ahead.**

**Updates will be irregular, but will be soon. I think.**


	3. Chapter 3: Punishment

**Chapter two: **Punishment

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in this chapter, I'm trying to keep the stuff as minimal as possible. No slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

I would like to dedicate this chapter to **Neusuada,** whose reviews keeps me going without kicking the bucket halfway through, like I always done. Thank you for reviewing every chapter so far.

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_"You know full well the result if you up hold what you promised to that boy!"_

_"What do you suppose we do Felix? The pendant has given out; there is no getting it back."_

_"Think about what He'll do to you! That boy doesn't deserve it! He is not worth the cost."_

_"Who is to say that one doesn't deserve to live a life? I have his heart Felix; I can see all he had seen, what he had experienced, and all his memories with those he loves. I'm not taking all that away when I can help it. And I can help it."_

_"But to promise something like that…to that extent…it's madness."_

_"Perhaps, or perhaps everything will turn out all right in the end."_

_"Yes, but at what cost?"_

_"No matter."_

_"I know. Good luck then. Since I can't stop you from going. And don't fail."_

_"Have you learnt nothing in your long stay here in Neverland Felix? Peter Pan never fails."_

_"Does dying count as failing?"_

_"Of course."_

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He could see the Master opening the door. Barefoot trotted on the cold stone floor, His blood read robe trailing behind Him. When He bent down, it falls over him like a shroud. Fitting he supposed, he had wished he was dead for the past how many days he had been down here. He prayed and prayed the Master was here to end his life.

The Master put a hand on his forehead; he flinched wildly, trying to back away, anywhere be better than near Him! He took hold of the long leash connected to a collar on his neck and yanked. He went skating back to where he inched from. He lashes out His foot, hitting his already broken ribs. White hot pain flew up his spine; his mouth is too hoarse, too dry to scream for something as mild as this.

He twisted the lever on the east side of the wall; he felt his arms being slowly stretched up. Pain went up and down as his shoulder flared. He hung his head as feet left the ground, bronze hair falling into his once mischievous forest green eyes. He tried to pull on the thick chain bidding both of his wrists to the ceiling. He doesn't know why he bothered; all he ever got was the same response.

A hand flew across his once handsome face, now matted with blood and grime. The hand was cold, evil, full of malice he doesn't want to ever think about. A thin trail of blood drips down his chin. He is surprised; he didn't think there will be anymore left to spill.

"Behave." The Master whispered. A hot hand this time, boiling, caressed his throbbing cheek. It took everything he has left to stop moving. It seemed so different to the hand that taught him to spin maybe eons ago, or the hand that wiped away his tears when he dared to break down in front of her. He forbids himself to cry in this hell hole.

"Know that it hurts me to hurt you Peter." He spoke with a voice that's supposed to bring comfort. It brought everything but. He wonders how long until he caves in, until he begged to be set free, until he watched the life leave the brown eyes of the one he pledged to.

He vigilantly shook his head. The Master sighed in mock regret. He could feel the eagerness He expels to finally begin. He braced himself, prepared himself, and waited.

The whip came crashing down on his already bloody back. His broken mouth opened and out tore a tortured scream. He told himself to shut up, to not give Him the excuse to do more. He told himself to stop it.

_No matter the cost_, he repeated in his head, where His magic couldn't reach. No matter the cost he repeated as the one true master of Neverland brought its flaming whip upon Peter Pan's back. Again and Again and again.

* * *

_What is the cost_, the boy had asked. _No matter_, the mother answered. The boy believed her against his better judgments. She is the only one he had left, his father and brothers all went to the same foolish war against another kingdom and now his mother was going too. None of them cried. His mother was a strong warrior, and he believed. She would come home, she have to. In his clammy hand clutched four small black beads on a thin red chain. The things each of his brothers and father tossed him before riding off, and never coming back.

"Keep it safe Le'las!" They all had said.

Now his mother is leaving too. She clambered onto the brown horse, back straight, long auburn hair flowing in the late autumn breeze. She tossed him the stone as she rode away, spears glinting, armor shinning in the cold twilight.

"I promise Le'las! Keep it safe!" She yelled over the wind.

In that moment he knew. He put the small stone in between two beads and clasped the thing around his neck. It symbolizes a promise, a promise he knew his mother will never be able to fulfill. He trudged back into his manor house, tucking the necklace into his green tunic. When he eventually give this to another, he vowed that he would always keep whatever promise he pledged.

No matter the cost his mother told him. No matter the cost he repeated as he rubbed the Greenleaf etched on the yellow stone. Greenleaf, like his name.

He will fulfill every promise he makes, because he knows the promises his own family all had sworn to him will never be done. They all went into the forest; they all had left him back here, alone, in this dark dying land.

None of them are ever coming back. Every one of them had broken their promise.

※◎□～】【

_"What did you promise him?" A hand reached out, grabbed Pan's arm and jerked, twisting him to face the furious face of one pissed off Tinker Bell._

_Pan replied with a soft shrug, a complete mask of innocence on his face. "I don't know what you mean." He turned away and kept on walking. He needs to get out of the town's proximity before He comes and for his spells to take effect._

_Tink crossed over to get in front of him. "Don't play with me Peter Pan. I know what that stone stands for. What. Did. You. Promise."_

_"It doesn't concern you Tink." The innocent façade all gone, replaced by something akin to fear and urgency._

_"Why you saved Henry is your business. I need to know what you promised him so I can figure out what the cost is. That's what I'm worried about." She said, dead pan and bulls-eye to the point. As always._

_Pan kept his silence._

_"I disobeyed." He whispered. "He ordered me to let him die"_

_Tink's eyes widened, her mouth dropped. "Peter…" She hadn't called him that for nearly a decade, voice filled with panic and fear. "You said _keep it safe_." She breathed._

_"I'm sorry." He said. "He's coming. Keep them all safe Tink. Please." Pan took off running into the forest, deep in the woods, never once looking back at the frozen fairy. He let the magic that transformed his clothes to slowly leak out. He waited in a small clearing, waiting for him._

_Pan felt him long before he actually saw him, a great sleepless malice swooping in and out of trees. He didn't stop the bony fingers closing around his neck, didn't stop the sharp nails as they seeped into his chest. He didn't stop himself as he laughed, felling backwards, and welcomed the pain to descend._

_The scarf he wore, carried by the breeze, fluttered back to the white mansion's sidewalk. Into Emma Swan's half waiting hands. She put it up to her chin, buried in its scent. It has a strange design, up close she could tell it was soft green, white at a distance, with gentle strokes of red flowery lines decorating its surface._

_"It's made out of Never Blossoms." She jumped as Tinker Bell just silently appeared right next to the foliage. "I could recognize that shade anywhere. Pan called it wind flower for some reason. It's a bit like those cherry blossom trees in this world; I saw it in a painting in the library. Bigger than that and a lot scarcer."_

_"Oh." She looked down at the long scarf again, couldn't help but swipe her fingers across the silky surface, entranced by the red lines._

_"The red bits are red spider lilies." Emma's eye brow rose. "It was his mother's favorite. She always put one on their window sill when someone passes away. The scarf was like a talisman for his mother." Tink chuckled at Emma's incredulous expression. "Everyone has to have a mother Emma. It's just whether or not you managed to keep them."_

_"The Never Blossoms are a funeral flower back in the island, Pan always plant one when a Lost Boy went, well, lost. Few blossoms have actually flowered, most just died. He sings a little rhyme on the spot where the boy had died. It may not look like it, but those boys meant a lot to Pan."_

_"You seem to know a lot about him." Said Emma, suddenly suspicious._

_There was a small smile tugging on Tink's lips, "The Lost Boys are not the best way to tell one's past to. Especially one like Pan's. He trusts me and that's all that it matters."_

_Emma couldn't reply to that._

_"Nobody knows the rhyme's words or tune. Pan clears everyone out with a pair of hunting knives before he opens his mouth. A pity really, now there is no one here to sing it to him." She laughed mirthless and walked up the steps to the mansion's porch._

_"Keep it safe Emma." She laughed again, finding humor in some hidden meanings, buried beneath the words. Leaving Emma in the cold night air to contemplate what it all means._

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**A/N: I originally have another 1000 something words left in this chapter but I just couldn't bear it to go past the 2000 mark I set for this story. And also, mom is cooking those cheesy pastas and I'm hungry. This will be a double update.**

**The 'Greenleaf' name was taken from Legolas GreenLeaf, son of Thranduil Orpherion, prince of the Woodland Realm Mirkwood, part of the Fellowship of the Ring. One of my favorite characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I'm sorry, couldn't resist!**

**The scarf part was taken from Kuchiki Byakuya's _ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu, _which is a family heirloom scarf in the Kuchiki Clan. Kuchiki Byakuya is from the anime Bleach. Still can't resist. **

**Can anyone tell me what Pan's hair color is? I've got bronze and sand and brown and dark auburn.**


	4. Chapter 4: Penalty

**Chapter Three: **Penalty

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in this chapter, I'm trying to keep the stuff as minimal as possible. No slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

**THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE, READ CHAPTER THREE BEFORE THIS ONE OR IT WILL NOT MAKE AN OUNCE OF SENSE!**

* * *

He wished the Master would just kill him for another time that day. Another part ached and prayed for the small town he so painstakingly held to protect. No protection spell will hold if he weren't there to chant them, to reinforce them, and he is not getting out anytime soon, last he checked.

He wonders for a thousand times, how are they faring in that town, the Lost Boys? He watched them board the Jolly Roger and set sail to the night. Some of them are even fighting the adults to get back on the soil of Neverland. He couldn't fathom why, he made the conditions on the island as difficult as possible so they can go without remorse when the company went to get them. He may have needed them at one time because he was dying of loneliness, but now, he _wanted _them, and there laid the difference.

Peter Pan doesn't understand why they want to stay. All of them are better off somewhere else. Away from him. As far away as possible.

He sense the door open, wide, letting some sunlight filter through, joining its brother from the ceiling 'window.' He grasped at the presence, eyes open and adjusting to the light, it was Emma? Strange. The Master had never let her do the tormenting before. It was always Henry, or Felix, or Tink, or even some of the boys he rescued and cared for once upon a time. He is not taking any chances. Master could and will throw him off if he had his dagger even in his hands. He wonders if the vile monster would kill him if he had a knife to His throat. He sincerely hopes so.

He waited until Emma is almost close enough to touch him…and sprang.

Emma pushed open the thick iron door and was rewarded with the stench of heavy blood. The only available source of light was the small ceiling window, if you can call a square the size of her palm a window, the bars in between divided up the sun's rays, but it was enough. The broken light was enough to illuminate the boy's features.

She just wandered through the forest after escaping the suffocating air of the white mansion, with Tink's hostility, Henry's bewilderment, Regina's worry faces, Hook and Neal's no help arguing and the nagging word of what's wrong of her parents. She just has to get away, so she wandered to the woods, even though Regina warned everyone in town to keep away from there. She found a well. Not the drinking well August took her a couple of months ago, but well with a thick stone latch and a stair case that goes down under.

She had never heard of Regina building this 'prison' like…thing before.

Back to the boy behind the thick doors.

Gone was the smug arrogant Peter Pan they met in Neverland, or the sad wistful Peter Pan she saw returning Henry back to them, and was replaced by, well, a boy. Messy bronze hair that fell in his eyes, ripped tunic, slashed leggings. Wrists in cuffs on thick chains that stretched to the dark wall. Bruises, large cuts and whip marks decorated his body. Blood was pooling around where he lay, smeared to every available space. Cracked lips and death pale skin. His dagger lies just inches next to the left hand cuff, surrounded by some of the dry, flaking liquid. His eyes are closed, at a glance.

"Pan? Pan! Peter!" She shouted

The boy stirred, revealing resilient but somehow lifeless emerald-green eyes that hardened the minute Emma went close enough, his pupils barely a slit. Pan snatched up the bloody dagger, pounced on the still shocked woman and held the weapon to her throat, all was silent.

"Pan, what happened to you?" Her tone urgent, panicking.

He remained quiet, his eyes murderous now, with a tint of confusion? Weapon at the ready.

"What is the last thing I said to Henry?" Quietly he said, like the calm before the storm. Emma shuddered.

She remembers that afternoon as if she was there again. The slightly confused Henry being hugged by everybody within reach. There was smiles and laughter and reassurance, some were brave enough to sneak a few glances at the boy standing near the doorway, hands in pockets, slouching against the wall, eyes sad but relieved and pained at the sight before him.

"Hey Pan," Henry spoke up, silencing the joyous occasion immediately. "Do you want it back?" He gingerly held up the necklace hanging around his neck, fingers smoothing over the Greenleaf, etched in faded green ink if you held the stone up to the right light.

Pan shook his head, "Keep it safe Henry, you might never know, it may come in handy someday." Softly chucking at some unseen irony only Pan, and now Tink, can find. Pan turned and walked straight out through the open doorway, his scarf fluttering behind him. This is what pan said, and what Emma repeated.

Pan backed away, dropping the dagger with a resounding clang and stepped into the pitiful amount of light. His injuries somehow went even worse in the sun. He stumbled, chairs rattling and slid down the wall. Two set of crystal droplets fell out of his emerald orbs and Emma went up to him, wrapping him with her arms and her red leather jacket, filled with comfort and home, reminding him of the things that he was ripped from all those centuries ago, and let the immortal being cry out his fears, tears and despair.

They stayed like that for a while, bits of dried blood and dirt made a gathering meeting at Emma's shoulder, like a young mother, bringing hope and light to a sun that just woke up screaming from a nightmare.

"What happened?" She asked, careful not to set him on edge.

"I disobeyed." He answered.

Seeing Emma's confused glance, he continued. "I was never the true lord of Neverland. I just woke Him up that's all. I'm like a vessel, chosen by him, to carry his orders to the last degree. If I live, he lives, and Neverland survives. I'm mortal, so I'll need the heart of the Truest Believer to keep holding on. I don't want to, but I can't say no. This is the first time I…" His eyes slammed shut, no doubt experiencing some unlucky memory. Emma could see more tears forming.

"What about the town? And the forest and everything if he's here?" She softly shrieked. A flash of anger flitted across Pan's handsome features. "I put up a protection spell around the town. He's not getting in when I'm still alive. Which won't be much longer I think." He finished with a mirthless chuckle. Emma's arms grasped him tighter.

"I will protect Henry. I promised." He gritted his teeth, determination and hatred burns through his entourage. The Peter pan she knew of flickered back, a ruthless being that would do anything to get what he wants.

She felt a smirk tugging on her lips, but paired with tears stinging her eyes. The infamous Peter Pan risked his life for them, for the ones she holds most dear, for everyone in this town. He owned them nothing, he didn't deserve this, beneath all that power he's just a lonely, lost boy whose family went 'away.'

"Emma, you should go. He'll be here soon. I don't…want you to…" The rest went trailing off into oblivion.

She listened. "I'll be back. I promise." She cast one last fleeting glance at the boy before sprinting out of the well. She could only catch a shadow of a look at the master of Neverland before He descended into blackness below.

"How I wish you wouldn't keep that." He had said, a tiniest smile formed on his dehydrated lips before Emma took off. She quietly smirked to herself. Since when had the leader of the Charming Co. ever listened to that boy anyway.

Peter Pan always keeps his promises, and now, Emma Swan is going to keep hers.

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**A/N: Please review, favorite. Tell me how many plot holes I have forgotten to plug but no flames please.**

**Clearing something up: Peter Pan was like a host to another soul. He has his own mind-set but is forced to obey whatever the Master tells him to. I think I showed it pretty well what happens in this chapter on what would happen if he didn't obey. The Master told him to take Henry's heart, get the intruders off Neverland and do whatever Pan is doing before the Charming Co. came. Obviously he did not do that because if he did, there won't be any of this story to go on with and I'll be devastated.**

**A giant fight with a monster coming up next chapter. There will probably another three more left to go before this is finished. **

**The Peter Pan in the real show is quite good-looking if I do say so myself. *giggles***

**I need a beta. Someone?**


	5. Chapter 5: Penetate

**Chapter Four: **Penetrate

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

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The beast was inches from her face, its drools pooling down her shirt, Emma desperately pawed at the wet grass around her, feeling for anything, something, to dislodge this troll away from her. She will not end like this, she made a promise to Pan, and she will not end like this, she made a promise to Pan, and she also swore to herself that she will not break it like all her predecessors Tink had told her about. She could her screeches as Snow or Regina yelled out her name, running to her position.

A yellow binding chain roped around the beast's waist, and Pan yanked, hard. It flew, tumbling over and over in the air before landing unceremoniously on the forest floor. Emma scrambled up.

The true form of the all-powerful Master of Neverland, the one that imprisoned and tortured Peter Pan for about a week and a half, was a giant, single-minded, blood thirsty troll that wants to rip your links right out of their sockets. Who saw that coming?

The toll swung its chains at Pan, his getting-up-after-being-yanked-by-a-magical-chain-wielded-by-a-teanager time was surprisingly quick, successfully knotting the chain around a thick branch of a hundred something year's old tree. Pan got to the hulking beast first, vehemence glinting in his forest green and narrowed eyes, and he rapidly slammed his foot down at the tangled knot the chain is at the end, swinging his own chains, he launched them straight at its neck. With swift precision Pan's quick feet carried him along the large metal links, aided by his own, and unto the broad shoulders of the damned troll.

It screamed in anger, jerking and flailing at the weight being on top of him and the strangling pull of the chains about its neck. Breaking through the shield of scaly, thick shadows to get to its center has decreased the power of his shot when he had fired his spell at a distance. By bringing himself closer to such a vulnerable spot, Pan could be sure his spells hit home. He threw his hands up, palms out only seconds later, strong legs maintaining his balance upon the shifting beast and fired.

At that moment, it howled and turned, destroying Pan's aim. The blue fire crash down struck the tough skull helm of the beat, and was flung haphazardly to everywhere else.

Pan grunted in frustration. However futile, his attack did not go unnoticed. Howling like a demon it is, it flared and reared, desperate to top its former servant from its shoulders. Pan gasped and fell, losing his steady balance and slipping. The boy hit the ground hard of his left side and cried out. The chains that circled his wrist were torn off him. He lay there a moment, propped on his right elbow, wheezing.

It rounded on Pan's hapless form. The pirate, panic pulsing his heart, leap forward, furiously shoving those blasted wraiths aside with blade and hand. He yelled, slashing at the master, drawing his attention. It grunted, charged towards him. None of them noticed the wave to black arrows fired from the monster's back. Aiming for Pan.

"Hey!" Came a shout from the far corner of the clearing, where the rubble of broken branches and scattered leaves were piled high. Snow cocked another arrow at the beast; Tink hurled a knife right after Snow released. Henry stood behind them, his cheeks white yet vehement, half hidden in between the leaves.

Their distraction proved adequate, and though Hook was somewhat relieved the monster diverted its attention from the severely injured Pan, his worry was not beating for the boy everyone cares about, the warrior princess and the fallen fairy that he may or may not have a crush on. They no match for a monster of this caliber. The hulking beast thundered towards the trio, and if just realizing what they have done, they scattered and sought refuge in the trees.

Charming fought to see them, but the battle demanded his attention more as he blocked another mace hurtled at his direction. In the corner of his eye he saw the troll crush his fist into the ground with a rumble, further separating everyone.

"HENRY!" Someone cried. Was that Pan?

Henry has scrambled to a nearby oak and pressed his compact to it, hiding in the shadow and behind the strong tree. Emma saw the monster creep around the barrage of trees and she moved fearfully, the troll's feet ever one step ahead in the sick game of cat and mouse. In her one moment of distraction, a sword slammed into her arm. The momentum knocked her back into the foliage, her cutlass disappearing out of her hand.

The beast roared, whether in fury or sick minded bliss. Emma could barely hear it above the rush of her own heart and breath. Then came a desperate cry. "Mom!" There were suddenly arrows and spears fired from the troll to press her against the cold floor underneath and she fought desperately to rid herself of them. "Mom!"

She couldn't get up, and with a startling breath she saw the troll grasp Henry's leg to restrain him, its strong hard fist lifted overhead and poised to strike. She screamed to everyone in earshot. To save her son! She tore herself up from the floor, ripping her already tattered clothes in the process…Just as the beast brought its fist down.

In barely a heartbeat, two chains of yellow links and pale red fire snaked around Henry's waist and the troll's fist and it yanked, hard. The death hold on Henry was broken and he was flung to in the air. Henry squeezed his eye shut as he felt the emptiness beneath his body. The landing knocked every bit of air out of his lungs, but the pad was soft. He's OK.

In the same beat, Pan leap forward and drove his dagger straight through the beast's neck; pouring all the spells he learned that could blast open a skull into the small blade. In a furious last attempt, its arm reached to its back, found the boy and yanked him off and threw.

Fear pulsed through Emma right then as a thousand senseless thoughts stampeded through her stricken mind. Cold sweat prickled her skin. To her right she saw the beast fall, throwing a dark shape from its shoulder, the company with weapons still apprehensively raised. But she found that she could not care for that now.

She rushed to Henry's side as everyone else did. He's half sitting on a blue trampoline like thing. The boy groaned, grimacing and breathing quite heavily. "Is everyone OK?" the nerve to answer that question can only be found in the Charming family. Weariness and relief struck them all for both the safety of themselves and their friends and family. Pounding hearts slowed, tense muscles were drooping as the strength was snapped from limbs, rushed breaths quieting.

Everyone began to check their injuries, somehow squeezing out a smile or two, rubbing bruises or slowing blood from cuts. Everyone's relief over Henry's safety was still evident upon their faces, but they are all alive and relatively unscathed. Tink was the only one that bothered to do a head count. Her face cracked. "Where's Pan?"

Cold terror washed over Emma, and it was followed by the sickest sense of a memory momentarily forgotten.

Rapidly her eyes scanned their surrounding and she charged forward, praying that the stupid teenager was not lying on the grass floor as a corpse. Pan stood facing the remains of the entrance of the underground cavern. "Pan," she said urgently. He did not turn to face her, his hands at his side, his body still. A stiff silence followed that was filled with a strange but beautiful melancholic sound that seemed starkly misplaced.

Pan was singing. The melody was sad and ancient, but also with sense of life. Emma recognized it immediately, even though she only heard Tink talk about it once. Its forlorn grace was unforgettable. The lyrics are simple. Broken.

_When does the Never Blossom go when they dance?_  
_When they comfort the lonely child under its tree._

_When does they Never blossom go when they play?_  
_When they rescue a lost child to play in the stream._

_When does the Never blossom go when they sing?_  
_When they find the promised Child under the sea._

_Where does the Never Blossom go when they dies?_  
_They go with the Never child up to heaven. _

The rhyme for the passing of a Lost boy. Only for a Lost boy.

Pan was the first Lost Boy to ever set foot in Neverland.

Pan quietly finished his song just as Emma came to stand before him. When she did, she saw the horror he had sought to quietly hide from them. The entire right side of his stature was covered in slick red; his once green tunic turned a sick brown from the stain. Blood poured endlessly from a deep injury, the laceration in his shoulder violent and menacing. There were holes in his leggings where the black arrows had punctured through. The savior could only watch numbly as the blood rushed from various holes in torrents. His heart was pumping his life mindlessly away.

He opened his eyes and lifting his face to Emma, and they are filled with the sadness of one who knows the wound he has received to be mortal. There were not tears to slide down his weakened eyes anymore. "Hello Emma," he whispered. There was no fear in the meek tone. He gave her the smallest of smiles. "I am to die this this realm, after all."

Peter pan had never feared death, the stories that mothers tell to the children in bedtime to beware the night. Peter Pan had never feared the dark. And so, he welcomed the death that he so feverishly prayed for, to claim him.

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**A/N: Please review, favorite. Tell me how many plot holes I have forgotten to plug but no flames please.**

**I always wanted to leave a lot of blank spaces in between to created suspense. Do not kill me or you will never find out whether or not Pan lives or not.**

**Clearing something up: Pan has Henry heart! That means he has magic more powerful than anyone else. The wraith that was mentioned for a couple of times was made by the troll as a mindless minion thing. The reason I left out how Henry was saved and how Pan was brought to the underground well and how the master transformed into a stupid troll was 1) I can't be bothered to write it and I am still mourning my confiscated phone and 2) if I had put everything in there, there won't be any space for the readers' imagination. If I wrote everything then it wouldn't fit so well in the story and I would scrape this one to the bucket.**

**I got the magical bits from the Kidou spells from Bleach. Sorry. Don't regret it though.**

**The song was from Hell Girl's Sakura Uta. I just translated it to English and changed the lyrics around a bit. **

**I need a beta. Someone? Anyone?**


	6. Chapter 6: Putrefy

**Chapter Five: **Putrefy

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Character death.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

****I would like to dedicate this chapter to two of my good friends, if you can call it that, Insane PJO LOver and Lord of Insomnia. One of them is my beta went over my numerous tenses and other problems to make this at least eligible to read. I love both of them and would recommend their great stories for reading.****

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"I'm sorry, but there is nothing more I could do."

That was the sentence Whale tried at least seven times to tell the rag-tagged group that insisted to stay outside of he operation room and only now they relented to a small meeting room, wearing smoking outfits riddled with holes and dirt that was almost superglued on. Tracking mud and leaves all over the clean pristine tiles of the hospital.

Usually Whale would have all of them thrown out the front door to either get cleaned up or file in at a mental hospital somewhere not close to here.

He had been thinking of doing those things when they first came into the double doors, if not for the explosion and lights that everyone saw or felt in the forest and the boy. The boy in Charming's arms, with blood pooling like waterfalls out of his body.

That is when his doctor instincts kicked in.

It was well past three, almost twelve hours since the company first barged in. He, along with half of the personnel in the hospital finally got the boy's blood to stop flowing and at least stabilized him. He could see the magic in that boy's veins, making his blood glow sliver, and making his job no less messier.

Stabilized does not mean he would recover. Whale could only imagine and hopefully not dream about what kind of monster caused that amount of injury. If not for the amount of magic in the boy's blood stream, he would have died long before anyone could have said otherwise.

"Nothing more?" Henry asked, voice half muffled in his mother's embrace. That almost eleven years old had experienced a lot of things the adults three times his age could only have nightmares over, in this particular world at least.

"What about magic?" He dared to ask, looking pointedly at Gold. Rumpelstiltskin is the most powerful man he knew in all his years, in any world. He still is the one that all princes and heroines went to for something magical. For the right price of course.

Everything has a price. Especially magic.

Regina sighed, and proceeds to explain the why not to the ignorant fool that still thinks magic is a stupid trick of the light. "Pan took Henry's heart. Your heart is where you store your most treasured things, like memories for example. Because Pan is the at least five times more powerful than me or Gold, and he was the one that has Henry's heart, he is able to restore Henry with some sort of dark/black magic that I really don't want to know. pan is more Powerful than Rumpelstiltskin ever hoped to be, so there is nothing he can to."

"So Henry is alive...right?"

"Yes he is alive and kicking. Pan on the other hand...was a totally different story." Huffed Tinker Bell, tear tracks already done her cheeks.

"Wait, why do we care about Peter pan again? I mean, he is the bad guy that stole your son to Neverland intending to rip his heart out. And by the looks of it, he succeeded." Whale trailed off when he saw the murderous look half the room is shooting at him, Charming and Hook is suddenly sharpening their weapons in the lime light for all to see.

"Pan takes promises very seriously, some of that seriousness came from before he was taken to Never land. Something about his mother and not coming back. I only know that his family had hurt him deeply by not fulfilling their promises, so Pan resolved to never break one like his family had." Tink never wanted to say anything about Pan's family or his life before. But since Pan is dying in a hospital room a couple of doors away, she has to break the rules. Hopefully Pan won't rip her into shreds once he wakes.

"To say the Master of Neverland, the real master, would be displeased would be a severe understatement, Pan knows the punishment and still he stuck to it. Long story short, the Master of Neverland tortured Pan for about a week before Emma found him half dead somewhere in the forest and dragged us with her to get him out of that hell-hole. He killed the _thing _and at the same time it almost killed him as well. He still got all those injury from the week he has been...away..." At this Tink buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Unaware of the looks she was getting from almost everyone.

"The fairy was the closest thing Pan has got to a friend and a mother figure thing while he is kept prisoner in that demented island." Regina muttered to the group of trembling adults, barely able to hold back a sneer.

Whale was again, hopelessly confused, "You still didn't answer my question though, why can't you use your magic on him?"

"Because," Gold stood up, knocking back the stool he had been perching on, clad in full Dark One regalia, intimidating half the room, "Pan knows enough magic to level this town with a flick of a hand. If he hasn't done the thing he is not suppose to do, I'd be sticking a dagger in the hospital room right now. He has unknown and powerful magic flowing in his systems. He still has Henry's heart, so we have no idea what outside magic could do to him. It could either make his condition worse, though I don't know how we can do that, or kill him out right."

"So we are just going to leave him like that?" There was a hint of disbelief and accusation in Snow's tone as she put a comforting hand around the distraught fairy.

"We wait, and see if Pan has enough of a will to keep on living."

"Will?" The question in Charming's voice was apparent.

"He will live," The room's noise came to a grinding halt at the sound of Henry's voice, bruised and battered like the rest of himself. He offered a tender smile, "If I learnt one thing in my stay in Neverland, Peter Pan never fails."

A chuckle from the far corner drew everyone's attention, before revealing Hook, with his crooked hands and equally crooked smile, "Indeed."

The moods did not lighten, but everyone was strangely reassured.

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"Hello Henry," the greeting was soft spoken, lost in the late evening breeze, so unlike the devious streak he always has back in Neverland, or hoarse voice lanced with pain and secrets he used to calm the boy down when he woke up screaming after Pan had used his magic to forcefully drag him from the limbo between life and death.

Henry whirled around, hands clutching the wooden stick he used as a wand when his family shooed him outside to get some fresh air. He has recently finished the last book and movie of the Harry Potter series and had been itching to be alone and try the killing curse.

He smiled hesitantly in reply, before suddenly remembering the reason he was kicked out to the courtyard in the first place. Regina shooed him off with a conjured Voldemort wand to get him away from the rushing bodies and Hook's colourful cursing tirade on the variation of _where did that brat Pan go he is half dead how did the hell did he get out without been seen god I am so going to gut him like a mermaid and hang his insides on my ship mast for all to see._

"How did you..." He began, half wanting to drag Pan back to the hospital, half wanting to know how he got out in the first place. He was wearing his usual Peter Pan get up, the green-green-green outfit, including the dagger. There were blotches of flaking brown and wet crimson, but his wounds are no where to be seen.

"You know, this is a yew tree," _huh? _"It signifies rebirth, a new life, a tie to our ancestors and a symbol of the old magic. The yew is sacred to Hecate, the crone aspect of the Triple Goddess; both are guardians of the Underworld, death and the afterlife." A pale hand gently stoked the dark bark of the tree, a perfect picture of melancholy.

What is it about rebirth that stoke Henry as uneasy, almost knowing something. He looked down at the white 'wand' his mum conjured. Voldemort's wand, made from the wood of a yew tree, fitting he supposed, since the evil nose-less freak tried so hard at conquering death. Something drifted into his vision, ash, soft, fine and grey, slowing disintegrating in the wind, carried away by the same breeze. But where did it come from?

He glanced back up, and drew a sharp breath, as did everyone that has been gathered at the courtyard. One half already given up in the search, another half wanting to ask Henry if he knew where Pan is.

The ash came from Pan. Bits and pieces breaking off of him and into fine grey ash. Gruesome, yet beautiful, hypnotic at the same time. A twisted life, broken beyond recognition on the inside, finally finding peace.

"The small evergreen leaves are dark green, even in the middle of the coolest, most bitter of winters. A symbol of life, but they are deadly poisonous at the same time. The entire tree is poisonous - wood, bark, needles and seed. I find yew tree the easiest to relate to. At least in this world." Pan chuckled, seemingly not caring about the ash that came from his own broken body. "Am I that far gone that I have to use this method of dying?"

"Pan..."

He extended a hand, trying to grasp a life for Peter Pan, to whatever he has left, the other gripping the leaf pendant so hard it etched a deep red line across his palm. Pan smiled, without the mischievous glint the Lost Boys had grown to fear, and also love. It always means a adventure was starting. A great adventure.

The words died on his lips as the ashes engulfed his face, dancing and twirling into oblivion, and perhaps even realms beyond it. To finally die next to a tree of rebirth...Fitting.

"You promised Pan. YOU PROMISED!" Henry screamed to the now still air, forgetting everything, forgetting there're princes and heroines and dwarfs and Lost Boys that must be feeling the same broken thing he is. He screamed and screamed and just wants him to come back. It was that simple and that childish, he just wants him to come back and say let's play and pulls his dagger and fires spells and saying he understands how the little boy inside the little boy feels.

He can't stand the pendent now. But that was the only thing left of him. Of the infamous Peter Pan.

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He may not be the most well behaved boy on he island Neverland, but he always keeps his promises. Not wanting to end up like his godforsaken family and beautiful mother that doesn't even spare him a glance when he flew back through their window, wanting to be back in her embrace.

He winces. The memory is still too painful to bear. He could remember his mother's screeches and his father's swords too well.

_"I don't have a son like you! Get out! My sons are normal, not freaks that could do witchery and flies through windows! Get out and never come back!"_

At least that was the one thing the Master allowed him to have, to indulge himself . It was the first time he laughed like _that_ as he plunged his dagger into his brother's chest and laughed and laughed at his mother's horrified expression. He had felt a piece of his kind heart shrivel up and die. He didn't care at that time. He still doesn't care now.

He once made a promise to a boy, giving him the pendent he loathed and loved and could never throw away. Not many remembered the promise any more.

But peter Pan always remembered. Because he promised. Because he couldn't stand the anguish cry the young boy hurtled at the wind, wanting Pan to hear.

"I did, didn't I? I promised..."

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**A/N: Please review, favorite. Tell me how many plot holes I have forgotten to plug but no flames please.**

**Reference to why I put Pan's 'death' like that could be found on YouTube if you type in 'Ulquiorra's Death' in the search box. But I strongly recommend against it if you are reading or watching Bleach. I will not be responsible if you did not heed my warning and came back and blames me for the spoiler. If any of you want to read a good story that involves around a yew tree, I strongly suggest _A Monster Calls_ by Patrick Ness, an insanely good story.**

**This story is NOT over yet. There is still an epilogue and a small glimmer of hope that Pan is still alive, somehow. Though even I wouldn't count on it.**

**I finally got a beta! Lets celebrate with a new chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7: Padrone

**Chapter 6: Padrone**

**Warning: ****This story may contain traces of: OOC-ness, spoilers, tortures, magical spells, AU, swords, powerful spells, badly written but still very awesome duels, family, severitus, spouts of random insanity now and again, rambling author notes and minor character bashing****. Engage at your discretion.**

**THE OTHER WARNING: This author is currently not very busy, bored out of her mind and suffers from severe cases of bad humor. Take the WARNING seriously, just not the author in general.**

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A jingle of bells, a slapping of shutters and Ruby sighed again. Another not so busy afternoon with little customs that mostly just flitted around the diner, trying to find something warm to drink and past the time until the rain stops. She sighed again and shook free of any large water droplets like the storm outside and plastered on a smile, expecting to see another familiar face.

But the face that came through the door was anything but familiar. Bronze hair, curled at the edges, sharp emerald eyes that sparkled with mischief, pale green coat, black boots and a navy fingerless glare peaked out from the large umbrella he was just closing shut.

He slid into a counter stool and looked to the menu up the opposite wall, bright eyes scanning the hot drink's section with utmost scrutiny.

"May I have a hot cocoa? Cream and no cinnamon please." An accent from somewhere she couldn't place but is familiar somehow. His voice sounds hollow, like he lost something, like when her Peter died...

"Coming right up!" She said, trying a cheerful smile and kicking the memory back to the Tartarus in his mind it sprung from.

"So where are you from?" Ruby asked, placing the over flowing cup in front of the strange boy's long fingered hands.

He smiled, one that could not reach his sharp eyes, "I'm looking for someone. I made a promise to him, and I intend to keep it." He sipped his drink, using a napkin nearby to wipe away his moustache.

Intrigued, she kept asking, "What kind of promise?"

It seems the curl of his lips were never able to cross to the windows to his soul, Ruby wondered why. "A special kind. It depends whether or not he actually wants me back." Ruby nodded, feeling sympathetic for this strange boy.

She knew practically everyone in Storybrooke since Granny's Diner was the most reliable resturant around. The only names she couldn't remember were the ones from the pack of Lost Boys that lived in a huge cabin somewhere in the woods

They were all homeless boys, abused and suffered in the hands of their so called parents that saw them as nothing more than tools and machines. Pan heard their prayers on the second star to the right, so he rescued them. Pan brought those boys to a family. A home in a dangerous jungle, but they were safer than ever, in Peter Pan's no longer there arms.

Everyone blamed themselves.

Another ingle of bells, a clatter of shutters and Emma Swan emerged, argueing in low voices with Mary Margaret and her son, Henry. They were all slightly wet, apparently the big black umbrella was not designed for three, the yellow pendant glistened with dripping water on Henry's chest.

Ruby caught one word: _Peter Pan_.

The little trickster Peter Pan that caused much trouble with his plots and magic, but he also saved Storybrooke from the brink of destruction when the true master of Neverland burst through from whereever it came from. Emma tied two green and violet bells with thick red ribbons on a branch of a tree Henry had named _Vigor Mortis_, right next to the destroyed dungeon.

The bell never rung, not even when Ruby managed to reach up and played it within her hands. Emma denied all blame.

From the booth near the doorway, Emma and Snow were still arguing about things that Ruby does not particularly wants to know, the diner went back to its comfortable silence. Ruby didn't think anyone would notice the stranger's presence, after all, she almost took him a Lost Boy until she thought better of it.

"Thanks for the drink," he said, tossing the money and a generous amount of tip next to the empty cup and grabbing his coat from the adjacent bench. She waved semi-enthusiastically as he made his way to the door, until a small voice stopped him.

"Wait!" Henry called, leaving his seat and the two of his many maternal family behind. The boy did stop, but refused to turn around.

"I believe this belongs to you," Henry held out the yellow pendant that just a second ago was around his neck. A pendant almost as important as hi life and something only a saviour and a fairy knew the origin of.

The boy turned his head, Ruby could see the exasperation and surprise in his bright eyes. He closed Henry's hand that held the beaded necklace. Fingers pale underneath his glove.

"Keep it Henry," the strange boy smiled, something that finally reached his eyes. "Keep it safe." One more smile, Ruby blinked, and the boy was gone, through the door or the window that were letting all the excessive storm water in.

Where had they heard that before? It was so familiar, she knew them from somewhere. Those three words were important, to two boys. But she just couldn't remember who, it seems Snow and Emma were thinking along the same thing too, only Henry's expression was clear.

A warm breeze suddenly blew through the small restaurant, starting all but a boy standing by the flimsy door, still holding a yellow gripping the yellow pendant in his hands. Ruby abruptly knew how she found that boy so familiar, even though she only saw him as he was being drifted apart, she still remembered. At least the key details of why she should.

"I am Peter Pan," echoed around her mind, preventing him from making them forget a second time.

Peter Pan fails, and death, could always be counted as a failure. Peter Pan never makes failures.

Never.

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**So this is the end. Thank you all.**


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